


Distinguished

by LostCauses (Anteros)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, eruri - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-13 00:20:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7130579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anteros/pseuds/LostCauses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erwin is struggling to read, but it takes Levi to point out the obvious.  </p><p>A short fluffy ficlet about Erwin needing reading glasses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distinguished

**Author's Note:**

  * For [momtaku](https://archiveofourown.org/users/momtaku/gifts).



> Momtaku wanted a fic about Erwin needing reading glasses, so here it is. Inspired by [this](http://momtaku.tumblr.com/post/144885657910/sadboybrigade-hi-res-bonus-this-is-what) post.

Erwin drops the documents on his desk with an exasperated sigh and scrubs his hand across his eyes.

“What the fuck’s with you?” Levi asks, looking up from the document he’s reading. He’s sitting in his habitual position on the old couch opposite Erwin’s desk, working his way through a large pile of squad leaders’ reports.

“Sorry, it’s nothing. My eyes are just tired.”

Erwin leans back in his chair, crooks one arm behind his head and pulls steadily on his elbow in an effort to ease the stiffness in his shoulders. He’s in his shirt sleeves, bolo tie cast aside on the desk, collar open and askew. Levi can see the tension rippling in the chords of his neck and he aches to run his hands over the taut tendons, work his fingers onto the hard muscle of his shoulders; anything the help ease the strain that’s pinching Erwin’s brows together. 

“You need a take a break old man. You should call it a night.”

He says it more in hope than expectation, knowing that Erwin will not quit his desk until his eyes are closing and the pen grows clumsy in his hand.

“It’s this lamp.”

Erwin stands, stretches, and walks over to the wall sconce to adjust the wick of the oil lamp.

“It’s too dim. When was this wick last trimmed?”

“I trimmed it when I lit it.”

Levi tracks Erwin’s movements from the corner of his eye without looking up from his report. 

“Then it’s a shoddy wick.” 

Levi can hear the irritation creeping into his voice.

“Erwin, leave the damn lamp alone, you’ll just make it smoke.”

“How am I supposed to get these reports finished if I can’t see to write?”

Erwin plants his hands on his hips and glares at the offending lamp. 

“There’s nothing wrong with the lamp Erwin, it’s your fucking eyes.”

“And what is that supposed to mean, captain?”

His tone is cold and Levi’s rank sound more like an accusation than an honorific.

Levi lays down his report and fixes Erwin with a flat stare.

“It’s your eyes. You’ve been sitting there squinting all evening and if you held that report any further from your eyes you’d dislocate your fucking shoulders.”

Erwin frowns and opens his mouth to protest.

“Whatever you’re going to say,” Levi interrupts, “don’t waste your breath. You’ve been doing it for months.”

Erwin glares at him for a moment but then drops his chin and exhales a long breath.

“You need glasses old man,” Levi continues softly, “go speak to Hanji, they’ll sort you out.”

“I can’t,” Erwin’s voice is weary and his shoulders sag, “there isn’t enough time.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? The sooner you get your eyes seen to, the sooner you’ll be able to see the back of these damn reports.”

“No, it’s too soon, I can’t let my eyesight go yet.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? There’s nothing you can do about it!” Levi can feel his own temper rising, even though it pains him to see the man so vulnerable. “Don’t tell me you’re getting vain in your old age?”

“I thought you knew me better than that Levi.” 

Erwin’s voice is flat but there’s a touch of annoyance, of accusation, that stings Levi.

It’s true, he does know better, and despite what many think, vanity is not one of Erwin Smith’s many sins. He is fastidious to a fault, but Levi knows that Erwin’s immaculate image is not the result of vanity or self-aggrandisement, it’s simply part of the job, part of the impervious façade of the thirteenth Commander of the Survey Corps. Levi has often wondered what lies beneath that façade, what he would see if Erwin allowed the mask to slip.

Erwin remains silent for a moment, hands on hips, staring at the floor.

“It’s not that Levi, there’s still so much to do, so much work, so many questions…What if I never find the answers?”

Levi sits forward, perched on the edge of the couch, desperate to step forward, to close the gap between them, to let his arms provide the comfort and reassurance that his clumsy words never can. But the last thing he wants to do is overstep the invisible boundaries that even his pin sharp eyes can not see.

“Well,” he huffs, “you’re not going to find anything if you can’t fucking see are you? Besides, I could do with having a word with Hanji too.”

“Really?” Erwin looks up, making no attempt to hide his surprise. 

“Yeah, I can’t see shit in this light,” he lies, “why do you think it takes me so long to read these fucking reports?”

Erwin snorts quietly and runs his fingers through his hair.

“All right, lets speak to Hanji tomorrow.”

He sits back down at the desk, picks up the report, squints at it, and something in Levi’s chest twists.

“Don’t worry, you’ll probably look good in glasses. Distinguished or some shit.”

Erwin looks up, surprised, before his expression softens, he smiles, and returns to the report.


End file.
